This paper will explore the economic differences between men and women and will talk about the current solutions as well as future possibilities.
While overlooking and misrepresenting women’s experiences was the original reason for feminists’ disappointment with mainstream economics; by the 1980s feminists were also making another valid argument. Many feminist economists were finding that conventional choice-theoretic modeling and a constricted focus on mathematical and econometric methods were weighed down by the connection it has to other items such as tradition, and relations of governance. Feminists started to ask questions about the mainstream definition of economics, its focal representation of the “economic man,” and the exclusive use of a particular set of methodological tools.
Essays on this issue were brought together in a 1993 volume of Beyond Economic Man: Feminist Theory and Economics (Ferber and Nelson, 1993). In this particular volume, it was proposed that economics be defined while taking into consideration the provisioning of life in all aspects where this occurs, rather than only in economic markets. Research was done on how a particular set of values, highlighting culturally masculine-related factors such as autonomy, abstraction, and separating had come to take preference over culturally feminine-related factors such as connection, interdependence and concreteness. The providers argued that rather than taking the previous as an indication of “rigidity” in the discipline, the lack of methods created by masculinist bias has made the discipline’s capability to explain real-world events weak. Questions were raised about mainstream economics because it was not objective enough and not because it was excessivel...
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Works Cited
Ferber M. A. and Nelson, J. (1993) Beyond Economic Man: Feminist Theory and Economics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Ferber, M. A. and Nelson, J. (2003) Feminist Economics Today: Beyond Economic Man. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Kuiper, E. and Sap, J. (1995) Out of the Margin: Feminist Perspectives on Economics. London: Routledge.
Bergmann, B. (1999) Does the market for women's labor need fixing? Journal of Economic Perspectives.
Becker, G. (2001) A Treatise on the Family. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Sen, A.K. (2002) Women, technology and sexual divisions. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Geneva, United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, New York.
Wilensky, H. (2008) The Welfare State and Equality. Berkeley: University of California Press
Blackburn, S (1995) 'How useful are feminist theories of the welfare state?’ Women's History Review, 4(3), pp. 369-394.
Gender roles are a staple construct of human civilization, designating the behaviors and lifestyles that society expects out of its participants, with gender as the defining characteristic. Historically, females have been at the forefront of the conversation, with feminism regarded as the principal solution to the well-established issue of gender inequality. However, this is foolish. To truly mend the gender inequalities forged by thousands of years of human interaction, both genders have to be acknowledged. Both males and females are equally constrained by gender roles, however the effects of this constraint are in differing fields. There are studies showing that females are at a disadvantage economically, in the workplace, while other studies
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "Women and Economics: Cupid in the Kitchen." A World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers. ed. Lee A. Jacobus (Boston: St. Martin's, 1990) 208-19.
As a result of this norm, more feminists who recognize the “systematic disadvantage” (Cahill 206) that women face daily in other countries is the reason why many feminists believe governments should oppose typical gender roles and gender stereotypes by protecting the rights of women. However, culture is always subject to change thus, leading developing countries who have neglected the rights of women to improve due to the global influence of other countries who have gender equality. This, in turn, leads countries to be “forced” to accept feminist agendas who “hold[ing] these patterns… to change them, and thus to change the realities that they produce” (Cahill 208). Not only does gender affect social issues but it also has progressed onto the economic sector for business as well, making gender a multifaceted topic for any
For several decades, most American women occupied a supportive, home oriented role within society, outside of the workplace. However, as the mid-twentieth century approached a gender role paradigm occurred. The sequence of the departure of men for war, the need to fill employment for a growing economy, a handful of critical legal cases, the Black Civil Rights movement seen and heard around the nation, all greatly influenced and demanded social change for human and women’s rights. This momentous period began a social movement known as feminism and introduced a coin phrase known in and outside of the workplace as the “wage-gap.”
Blumenstein, Rebecca. "Women in the Economy (A Special Report) --- Life Imitates Art: Geena Davis
Mies, Maria. Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale. New York: St Martin’s P, 1998
Mies, Maria. Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale: Women in the International Division of Labour. New York: Zed Books, 1998.
Blumenstein, Rebecca. "Women in the Economy (A Special Report) --- Life Imitates Art: Geena Davis
Waring, Marilyn. (1988). If Women Counted: A New Feminist Economics. San Francisco: Harper and Row.
There are nearly as many women as there are men working, yet, as it was discovered in 2011, on average, a woman will only earn seventy-seven cents for every dollar that a man earns. Women owned businesses make up for over a quarter of all national businesses and earn more than one point two trillion dollars (“Assessing the Past, Taking Stock of the Future” 6). Since many women are now becoming are the primary sources of income in the household, making less that a man does not only negatively affect families, but also the overall economy suffers as well. These women, among many others, are the ones who end up purchasing the supplies that go toward improving communities and stimulating the economy. There is no reason that the general public should stand for this. Women should be treated equally to men in today’s American society based on their biological compositions, psychological profiles and contributions to history.
Evidently, the openness of trade, and integration of ICT have resulted to an increase of jobs and stronger bonds to the worldwide markets for a huge number of women. This has increased their economic opportunities, hence an increase in their wages too,(barker, 2014).
The text of “The Woman Question” is ardent in its defense of economics and women. For Eleanor, the only way to improve the status of women was to tie it to the class movement. “The question is one of economics. The position of women rests, as everything in our complex modern society rests, on an economic basis” (Marx 1886). With the phrase, “everything in our complex modern society,” Eleanor not only casts herself as an economist, but establishes that any venture, be it social or academic, is fundamentally economic in nature. Thus, once she establishes that feminism is inherently an economic issue, the connection between her father’s socialist theories and her own feminism becomes clear.
McAfee, Noëlle. "Feminist Political Philosophy." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Edward N. Zalta. Winter 2011 Edition ed. Web. 24 Jan. 2012.
Women’s subordination within the labour market is seen by Marxist feminists as suiting the needs of capitalism as women are considered a ‘reserve army of labour’ as they are a more disposable part of the workforce. According to Beechey (1986) women are a cheap ‘reserve army of labour’ that are brought in during economic booms but then thrown out during slumps. Women are often not members of trade unions and are prepared to work for less money as their wage could be a second income. This benefits capitalism as a group of unemployed people looking for work creates competition and exploitation. Employers are given an advantage which allows them to reduce wages and increase the rate of exploitation. Benston (1972) supports this as women are used to benefitting the operation of the capitalist economy by carrying out unprepared work in the home. This proves that patriarchy dominates women which leads to women’s subordination. Hartmann (1981) believes that patriarchy and the economy both play a crucial role in explaining and understanding gender inequality. Historically, men have controlled women especially by control of labour power. This can come through legislation that operates economically to the benefit of men, for example Maternity and Paternity Rights. This proves that patriarchy and economics together explains gender inequality. However, Walby (1986) argues that women staying at home can actually harm capitalism because if women were to compete for jobs with men this would lower wages and increase profits. Women who earn also have superior spending power which would boost the economy and benefit